Sagano Bamboo Forest, Kyoto, Japan

In Kyoto's Arashiyama district, you'll find one of the most unique forests in the world: the Sagano Bamboo Forest. The tightly packed bamboo grove is especially beautiful when the sun filters through the stalks.

As you can imagine, the grove is a tranquil site — so peaceful, in fact, that Japan's environmental ministry included the forest on its list of "100 Soundscapes of Japan," a compendium of the country's most significant natural, cultural, and industrial noises.

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Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

A cloud-like mist gives the Monteverde Cloud Forest its name.
Getty Images Ltd. From 100 Places to Go Before They Disappear, published by Abrams.

This mesmerizing, 26,000-acre forest is home to several thousand species of plants and animals, including 500 bird species alone. You might also spot monkeys, pumas, and Costa Rica's famous red-eyed tree frog.

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Olympic National Forest, Washington, United States

Exceeding 600,000 acres, the Olympic National Forest— located on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula — encompasses a variety of landscapes, from temperate rainforest to rugged mountains to coastal beaches.

One of four rainforests in the peninsula, the Hoh Rainforest— which gets between 12 and 14 feet of precipitation a year— is known for its gorgeous mossy terrain. You'll also find moss hanging from the forest's Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees (the latter is Washington's state tree).

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Otzarreta Forest, Basque Country, Spain

Gorbeia Natural Park in Spain's Basque Country is known for its ethereal forests, like Hayedo de Otzaretta ("hayedo" is Spanish for "beech tree"). The park takes its name from the titular peak that Basque mountaineers use as a reference point when they're climbing the hills.

Rainbow Eucalyptus Forest, Hawaii, United States

Native to the Philippines, rainbow eucalyptus trees can be identified by their eye-catching bark that looks like it's been painted. The tree's inner bark layer, revealed when the outer layer peels away, is a vibrant green that fades over time to produce a magical range of bright colors.

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Black Forest, Germany

The Black Forest inspired the dark tales of the Brothers Grimm.
Pixabay

Sequoia National Forest, California, United States

The Sequoia National Forest, also known as the "land of the giants," is home to some of the world's biggest living trees.

At 103 feet wide and 275 feet tall, the General Sherman tree (named for Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman) is a giant among giants. It has been alive an estimated 2,200 years. The sixth-largest giant sequoia, with a diameter of 35 feet and a height of 269 feet, is the 2,000-year-old Boole tree, which was named for the Fresno doctor who spared its life during a logging operation.

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Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

Another fairytale-esque forest is the Hallerbos Forest in Belgium. Known as "the blue forest" for the bluebell flowers that carpet its floor each spring, Hallerbos is one of the last remnants of the Silva Carbonaria ("charcoal forest"), an ancient forest whose beech and oak trees formed a natural boundary between the West Frankish kingdom of Clovis and the East Frankish kingdom of Sigebert the Lame well into the Early Middle Ages.

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Crooked Forest, Poland

The Crooked Forest in Poland.
Wikimedia Commons

One of the world's most mysterious forests is the Crooked Forest (Krzywy Las) in Poland, whose 400 pine trees have a 90-degree bend at their base. Theories for how the trees got their unusual shape vary. Some posit that gravitational changes in the region caused the bending, while others attribute the crookedness to heavy snow that flattened the trees over time. Another, less likely explanation is that their shape was altered by hand.

Tijuca National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Tijuca National Park in Rio is home to one of the world's largest urban rainforests.mk30/Flickr

Beneath the gaze of Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue — which towers over the city atop Corcovado Mountain — you'll find Tijuca National Park, one of the largest urban rainforests on the planet. Between its 30 waterfalls and famous mountain peaks (including Pedra Bonita, Pedra da Gavea and Pico da Tijuca), there's no shortage of incredible sights.

Surprisingly, for such a lush forest, Tijuca is actually manmade. The land was once part of the Atlantic Rainforest, but was cut down and redeveloped by industrialists. In the 19th century, trees were replanted to protect the city's water supply.

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The Great Trossachs Forest National Nature Reserve, Scotland, United Kingdom

Scotland's Great Trossachs Forest, situated along the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, is a "forest in the making"— there's a wide-scale conservation effort to preserve the trees of the ruggedly beautiful Trossachs glen.

Yili Apricot Valley, China

At approximately 5,000 acres, the Yili Apricot Valley in Xinyuan County, China, is an oasis dotted with flowering fruit trees. To see the valley in bloom, visit in April — that's when the apricot trees blossom with whimsical pink flowers.

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Rātā Forest, Auckland Islands, New Zealand

The rātā, a type of myrtle tree, is native to New Zealand. You'll find these flora, which are defined by dark green leaves and gnarled, twisted trunks, on the Auckland Islands. The variety found on the North Island plays a vital role in bird ecology.

They rarely exceed a height of 65.5 feet, and produce stunning red flowers around Christmas time.